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DISH (NASDAQ: DISH), a leading national provider of satellite TV, is expanding the availability of its broadband service with the launch of dishNET, a high-speed Internet service via satellite nationwide. Available Oct. 1, dishNET offers customers the convenience of one bill, one installation, one customer service number and a $10 monthly discount when bundled with DISH's most popular TV programming packages.

Ideal for rural residents underserved, or unserved, by wireline broadband, dishNET offers 4G-level speeds that are about 50 percent faster than the typical residential broadband connections in American homes. The affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service starts at $39.99 per month and is available with next-day installation.

DISH's CEO Joseph Clayton is unveiling dishNET today at the flagship Cowboy Maloney's Electric City retail store in Jackson, Miss., the historic retail launch site of digital satellite TV and satellite radio services.

"Today, we are launching a revolutionary consumer broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet available in metropolitan areas to rural markets nationwide," Clayton said. "With nearly one-in-four rural residents lacking a high-speed connection, reaching these underserved markets is vital. Our mission is to provide broadband at an outstanding value with fast speeds and large data plans." In Aug. 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported 19 million Americans lack access to high-speed Internet, including 14.5 million who live in rural regions. The FCC highlighted that 23.7 percent of rural residents lack broadband access.

The dishNET satellite service offers rural residents download speeds up to 10 Mbps. These speeds are fast enough for typical Internet applications, including social media, telecommuting, music streaming, online video streaming and even Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

"Many unserved and underserved markets are years away from a telco or cable broadband build out, but dishNET is available today," said Brian McIntyre, vice president of Broadband at DISH. "These services will have powerful, positive impacts for kids, educators, businesses, farmers and families -- no matter how far out of town they may choose to live."

Living in the Jackson area, the first official dishNET family got a preview of the new service. Jeff Thigpen, father of five and a high school athletic director in Ridgeland, Miss., is now trying dishNET Internet and DISH TV service with the Hopper™ Whole-Home HD DVR.

"We no longer have to worry about tethering a cell phone to our home computer to get on the Internet," said Thigpen. "Since my girls are required to do much of their high school homework online, dishNET will help them move much faster when submitting school work. In fact, one of my daughters says it's as fast as working on the computers at school."

The dishNET brand leverages advanced technology and high-powered satellites launched from Hughes and ViaSat to provide broadband coverage nationwide. DISH will tailor its service to suit a customer's needs, location and budget. All services are sold, installed, billed and supported by DISH under the dishNET brand.

Pricing, Packaging and Availability

In rural and outlying suburban regions nationwide, dishNET satellite broadband starts at $39.99 per month (plus equipment fees) for 5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload speeds and data plans of 10 GB, when bundled with DISH's popular America's Top 120™ or higher programming packages and with a two-year agreement. Combining dishNET with DISH TV saves $10 per month. Most satellite customers can upgrade to a 10 Mbps /1 Mbps plan available with 20 GB of data for $49.99 per month.

Satellite broadband service includes five @dishNET.com email accounts, each with 2 GB of storage and an easy-to-configure online mail portal that combines web search, news, entertainment and weather updates.

Installation is free for new and existing DISH TV customers when dishNET is bundled with DISH's television programming and $99 when ordered as a stand-alone service. Existing DISH satellite Internet customers can upgrade to the 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds for $199.99.

In addition to satellite Internet service, DISH's own competitive local exchange carrier will also fold its wireline broadband service into the dishNET brand. Urban and suburban residents living in a 14-state region and access high-speed Internet with 7 Mbps starts at $29.95 per month. Upgrade to 12 Mbps service for an additional $5 per month or 20 Mbps for an additional $10 per month. This service is available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

For more information on package details or to sign up for dishNET and DISH's pay-TV programming call 800-823-4929 or visit www.dish.com/dishnet

Too bad there are limitations on the amount of data you can download.... but that really can't be avoided with satellite based internet. At least, with current cost and availability of satellites.

That said, the 20 Gb package for $49.95 with 10/1 speeds seems very reasonably priced. Data cap or not, it will definitely beat the dial-up that many people have as their only option. Some people are still limited to 768 Kbps DSL if they can get it, and this will be a nice upgrade.

[Disclaimer] The definition of "soon" is based solely on DirecTV's interpretation of the word, and all similarities with dictionary definitions of the word "soon" are purely coincidental and should not be interpreted as a time frame that will come to pass within a reasonable amount of time.

If data cap is exceeded, then download speed is throttled back to 2MB(they weren't sure)

Additional Dish and Modem are needed(Sounds like it completely separate from TV service).

1 time installation cost $99.00 (Waived I think due to current customer).

2 year agreement commitment.

Things that make me a little nervous:
We are coming from SLOW 1.5mb DSL service and trying to get additional speed.
1. UP TO 5MB. It was anything greater than say 2-3mb I would be happy, if it is less than 1MB down then I'm not going to be a happy customer.
2. Data cap. I have no idea what we use now and have tried without luck to get that info from our current ISP. But again, if the throttle goes to 2MB when the cap is reached, heck that is faster than we have now.
3. 2 year commitment. I'd hate to be tied into slow and marginal service. They said problems would be handled through the Loyalty department so I'm guessing if it was truly a problem we could get out from it.
4. Last is we live in a canyon with tall trees and any rain/snow will usually knock out our service. I had them look at it once, but no real improvement. I'd like to tweak it myself to max out the alignment, but haven't attempted that yet. And with us using broadband for VOIP phone and Microcell for Cell phone service if we loose internet connectivity then we are impacted quite a bit.

Thanks! Anyone one else care to chime in? Be nice to hear from some folks who either have it or going to install it.

Having had satellite internet I will say it is only a last resort. You almost never get the up to speeds and weather is an issue with the uploads. I was an installer and was happy when WISP became available and then DSL.

So -- I'm in an area that isn't served by DSL, cable, or any other wired high-speed connection. I had HughesNet for years -- it was great at first, but got progressively worse over the years -- to the point where I hated it, of course. Point to point wireless became available from a local provider -- and I switched to that. Again, great at first -- but it has become unusable due to them over-selling the tower and having some technical issues that they can't seem to get past (including having some ongoing issue with a baby monitor too close to the tower that has repeatedly disconnected users).

In any case, I saw this and have been thinking about going back to satellite as a last resort. Contacted Dish today to ask about it -- their "answer"? "Just go to www.wildblue.com and see what they are offering." That was it. I said "and this is for the new dishNET Broadband that you are advertising?" "Yes it is!" They basically suggested that I just call WildBlue and order it from them. Nothing about bundling or anything.

So, nothing about pricing or anything, of course -- I had to come HERE to find that, of course. Looks like the CSRs are not yet fully aware...

It sounds a lot like Exede, the new satellite service from WildBlue. I have Exede and it is a big upgrade from the "legacy" WildBlue System. My only issue with Exede is overnight outages that last sometimes into mid-day, so I was waiting for the dishNet release and thinking about changing over. I am a current Dish subscriber and the price looks tempting. Does anybody have any info regarding the satellite locations compared to the current Dish locations for TV?

It sounds a lot like Exede, the new satellite service from WildBlue. I have Exede and it is a big upgrade from the "legacy" WildBlue System. My only issue with Exede is overnight outages that last sometimes into mid-day, so I was waiting for the dishNet release and thinking about changing over. I am a current Dish subscriber and the price looks tempting. Does anybody have any info regarding the satellite locations compared to the current Dish locations for TV?

So -- I'm in an area that isn't served by DSL, cable, or any other wired high-speed connection. I had HughesNet for years -- it was great at first, but got progressively worse over the years -- to the point where I hated it, of course. Point to point wireless became available from a local provider -- and I switched to that. Again, great at first -- but it has become unusable due to them over-selling the tower and having some technical issues that they can't seem to get past (including having some ongoing issue with a baby monitor too close to the tower that has repeatedly disconnected users).

In any case, I saw this and have been thinking about going back to satellite as a last resort. Contacted Dish today to ask about it -- their "answer"? "Just go to www.wildblue.com and see what they are offering." That was it. I said "and this is for the new dishNET Broadband that you are advertising?" "Yes it is!" They basically suggested that I just call WildBlue and order it from them. Nothing about bundling or anything.

So, nothing about pricing or anything, of course -- I had to come HERE to find that, of course. Looks like the CSRs are not yet fully aware...

- John...

I have point to point wireless too, and I am very keen to find a better solution. 2012 and I have sucky internet. The caps on this are too limiting. 20GB is not enough.

I think it absolutely IS Exede. Everything seems to line up. Basically, the standard plan is the Exede5 plan -- and then they seem to be doing partial amounts of the Exede12 plan for those that upgrade.

DISH (NASDAQ: DISH), a leading national provider of satellite TV, is expanding the availability of its broadband service with the launch of dishNET, a high-speed Internet service via satellite nationwide. Available Oct. 1, dishNET offers customers the convenience of one bill, one installation, one customer service number and a $10 monthly discount when bundled with DISH's most popular TV programming packages.

Ideal for rural residents underserved, or unserved, by wireline broadband, dishNET offers 4G-level speeds that are about 50 percent faster than the typical residential broadband connections in American homes. The affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service starts at $39.99 per month and is available with next-day installation.

DISH's CEO Joseph Clayton is unveiling dishNET today at the flagship Cowboy Maloney's Electric City retail store in Jackson, Miss., the historic retail launch site of digital satellite TV and satellite radio services.

"Today, we are launching a revolutionary consumer broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet available in metropolitan areas to rural markets nationwide," Clayton said. "With nearly one-in-four rural residents lacking a high-speed connection, reaching these underserved markets is vital. Our mission is to provide broadband at an outstanding value with fast speeds and large data plans." In Aug. 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported 19 million Americans lack access to high-speed Internet, including 14.5 million who live in rural regions. The FCC highlighted that 23.7 percent of rural residents lack broadband access.

The dishNET satellite service offers rural residents download speeds up to 10 Mbps. These speeds are fast enough for typical Internet applications, including social media, telecommuting, music streaming, online video streaming and even Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

"Many unserved and underserved markets are years away from a telco or cable broadband build out, but dishNET is available today," said Brian McIntyre, vice president of Broadband at DISH. "These services will have powerful, positive impacts for kids, educators, businesses, farmers and families -- no matter how far out of town they may choose to live."

Living in the Jackson area, the first official dishNET family got a preview of the new service. Jeff Thigpen, father of five and a high school athletic director in Ridgeland, Miss., is now trying dishNET Internet and DISH TV service with the Hopper™ Whole-Home HD DVR.

"We no longer have to worry about tethering a cell phone to our home computer to get on the Internet," said Thigpen. "Since my girls are required to do much of their high school homework online, dishNET will help them move much faster when submitting school work. In fact, one of my daughters says it's as fast as working on the computers at school."

The dishNET brand leverages advanced technology and high-powered satellites launched from Hughes and ViaSat to provide broadband coverage nationwide. DISH will tailor its service to suit a customer's needs, location and budget. All services are sold, installed, billed and supported by DISH under the dishNET brand.

Pricing, Packaging and Availability

In rural and outlying suburban regions nationwide, dishNET satellite broadband starts at $39.99 per month (plus equipment fees) for 5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload speeds and data plans of 10 GB, when bundled with DISH's popular America's Top 120™ or higher programming packages and with a two-year agreement. Combining dishNET with DISH TV saves $10 per month. Most satellite customers can upgrade to a 10 Mbps /1 Mbps plan available with 20 GB of data for $49.99 per month.

Satellite broadband service includes five @dishNET.com email accounts, each with 2 GB of storage and an easy-to-configure online mail portal that combines web search, news, entertainment and weather updates.

Installation is free for new and existing DISH TV customers when dishNET is bundled with DISH's television programming and $99 when ordered as a stand-alone service. Existing DISH satellite Internet customers can upgrade to the 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds for $199.99.

In addition to satellite Internet service, DISH's own competitive local exchange carrier will also fold its wireline broadband service into the dishNET brand. Urban and suburban residents living in a 14-state region and access high-speed Internet with 7 Mbps starts at $29.95 per month. Upgrade to 12 Mbps service for an additional $5 per month or 20 Mbps for an additional $10 per month. This service is available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

For more information on package details or to sign up for dishNET and DISH's pay-TV programming call 800-823-4929 or visit www.dish.com/dishnet

I've had Sprint Wireless in the 90's and was fairly good, but they shut it down. I now have AT&T.

Ok -- so I just called and signed up for an install. Just to add another data point, here is what I was quoted:

5M down / 1M up10GB/month cap or 20GB for an extra $10/month$49.99/month withOUT Dish Top120 or better$39.99/month WITH Dish Top120 or better$10/month equipment rental.

So, if you have Dish for TV and want to get this, it looks like $49.99/month for the service plus equipment rental for a 10GB cap or $59.99/month with the 20GB cap.

I went and signed up for the 20GB cap service. I was told that I could drop down at any time -- so I'll start there and then monitor my usage.

If data cap is exceeded, then download speed is throttled back to 2MB(they weren't sure)

Interesting. I think it is MUCH slower than that. Everything I can find indicates 128kbps down and 28kbps up once you hit the cap. Exede says this and other documents that I can find.

On a side note, when you sign up, they direct you to all the legal documents at dish.com/legal to learn about the data limits. On that page, it has separate documents for "Exede", "dishNET ViaSat", and "dishNET HughesNet". I asked which ones were proper for me -- because I assumed Exede -- and she told me it was the dishNET ViaSat system. She says that they "used to call it Exede, but it is dishNET ViaSat now."

We'll have to see. If you go to ViaSat.com, they call their own service "Exede by ViaSat" -- so I guess it is all still Exede.

NONE of the data use policies at the page they stated talk about a 20GB cap plan... Nor is it listed on their satellite internet page (just 5GB, 10GB, and 15GB there).

Oh, wait, maybe they are combining the Anytime and Bonus times. So, their smallest plan would be 5GB+5GB=10GB -- and then $10 more for their middle plan at 10GB+10GB=20GB. I guess that makes sense. Sad that they don't present it that way though -- they just talked about a "10GB cap per month" and a "20GB cap per month." That isn't exactly accurate, IMO.

I'll post again after my install. It is on Tuesday (the 9th). They could have gotten me in on Sunday (the 7th), but I'm against making people work on Sunday, so I passed.

I have point to point wireless too, and I am very keen to find a better solution. 2012 and I have sucky internet. The caps on this are too limiting. 20GB is not enough.

I agree! I never knew how much bandwidth I used until I got this netgear router which keeps track for you. I have no cap on my 12 meg DSL, but I noticed that I did use 60 gigs last month......And I think most of that consisted of streaming internet radio, general surfing, and watching youtube videos and maybe two or three Netflix movies in there. Probably nothing compared to the amount of bandwidth some people use.....so I know 20 gigs could only probably be limited to just general surfing and not watching any online videos or very few of them if you do. I would totally HATE being restricted like that. I wish there was a solution for people who lived in rural areas

I'm contracted directly with Wildblue/Exede and have the 12mbs down/3mbs up plan with 10gB's monthly limits...Each customer has a usage counter that can be monitored via browser logging into their personal account, or gadgets like RealityRipple can be installed which will fetch that data and keep a history of usage for the customer and a mouse-over the icon near the clock will show current usage.

When purchased directly from ViaSat/Wildblue/Exede this plan has a late night free zone (LNFZ) from midnight to 5am local time that allows customers un-metered internet use..

Also, the usage (which is a sum of both download and upload bytes used by the customer) resets to zero once a month on the customers' installation date, the same day of the month that billing is done, everyone has a different date depending on the day of the month that their service started.

Exede also allows customers to buy extra gB's of usage for about $10/gB...they can also upgrade to higher priced tiers to get more Data Allowance Policy (DAP) plans.

Even if a customer exceeds their monthly DAP they are just slowed to 128kbs until their reset date, buy more or upgrade, except even when Dapped the LNFZ from midnight to 5am has full speed restored for those hours..

I would caution potential customers to closely check Dishnet offers...they may not include some of these Exede features even though a bundled package may save you $10/month.

Latency on Exede plans using the ViaSat-1 satellite are less than half of what it was on older satellite internet plans and averages about 600ms...it works fine with VOIP, my daughter uses a Verizon Network Extender connected to the router and I can't detect any voice lag from the latency, though I know it's there..

Go to this web site, enter your zip code, and browse through the plans and costs..do the same for DishNet plans..

The 12mbs Exede plans are from ViaSat-1 spot beams concentrated mainly east of the Mississippi river and spot beams are also available for most of California. For the rest of the country Exede 5 (5mbs) plans may be available using "augmented" spot beams from the older satellites ANIK-F2 and WB-1. I include a link to show spot-beam coverage for the entire country..

I know DishNet also offers plans from HughesNet satellites, their new bird has Gen4 plans, so check them closely also...most folks that have compared the two plans from HughesNet and Wildblue/Exede are convinced the WB/Exede plans have the best features and speeds for the price..

wisp is obvious way to go for anyone that has a provider in their area .... i had it before dsl....39.99 and avg 3-5 meg down and 1meg up ,,,NO USAGE Caps and great ping times (could play Online games without lagging) sat internet is getter better and cheaper but will never overcome lag...

So -- got my install completed yesterday as expected -- all went well. A few notes...

1. The dish says Exede right on it and the installer confirmed it was "Exede by ViaSat." The modem also came in a ViaSat box.

2. I'm on the 5M/1M plan. I'm getting, on an ongoing basis, 10-15Mbps down and 2-3Mbps up. Constantly.

3. The installer tells me that this is NOT the new DishNET stuff that they just announced! Even though that is what I called and signed up for (or so I thought), he tells me that they haven't completed training on the brand new DishNET stuff yet and that it'll be a few more weeks before they install any in our area. He says that it is still Exede but is completely different equipment -- different dish/transmitter and different modem. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that... Hmmm...

4. I thought that I was supposed to need a "clear view of the southern sky." My dish points mostly west -- MAYBE southwest, I guess. I asked him which bird it was pointing at and he didn't know. He told me that it is somewhere between 110 and 119 though.

5. My ping times are around 600-700ms consistently. When I had HughesNet years ago, they were 900-1200ms.

6. He didn't have my login information -- so I still can't log in and see usage yet. My router tracks usage, so I'm using that for now -- but it would be nice to be able to log in and see it like I was told I'd be able to do... I need to call Dish and find out how to get my login info. It appears to be different from my standard Dish.com login.

So -- I'm happy with the speed and performance -- but there is lots more I need to get more info on...